climbing the walls

Hi Jin, I do sympathise with you. I am also taking Lofepramine. One in the morning and one late afternoon. I have been taking them now for about 4 months, and it definately has upped my mood, and feeling a lot better, but it does make you hot and sweat, and as for sleeping, I couldn't sleep for ages. I found it practically impossible to even go to sleep let alone just have 2 hours. If I did get to sleep I would and still do have dreams. never a night goes past without me dreaming, but it did get better for me, and I am able to get to sleep. I went to my GP and asked if he could give me something to make me sleep, but he refrained from doing that, and told me to get Nytol One a Night. It is only for the odd occasion, but it did help. Whether its for everybody I don't know, but I would approach your GP to see what he advises. Chin up, things can only get better, even though at this moment you can't see it.

Hi Jin,

I started this medication about 8 weeks ago. Having read other peoples experiences i was very scared about taking it but i knew that something needed to change about how i was feeling and so i took the plunge so to speak.

Initially i was told to take 70 mg at night in case i felt drowsy, but i found that it had the opposite effect in that i was awake for hours and when i did sleep i had some very vivid dreams. About four days into the start of taking theses meds i decided to take them in the morning instead. The only real side effects i had was that i started to sweat a lot more and so had to carry around a can of deodorant to help.

About 10 days after starting them i noticed that i didnt feel as low. It was a subtle change at first, but i noticed that i had more energy and wasnt feeling that everything was a major chore as it had been.

4 weeks after starting them i went to GP and told him that i was feeling better. 2 weeks after this however i felt low again Gp then increased me to 140mg daily (morning) and i had a few days where i went through sweats agian and felt quite anxious.

I have now been on them for approx 8 weeks. Its rare that i sweat now and i can honestly say that for the first time in years i feel motivated and do not dread going to work (forgot to mention had 5 weeks off)

My concentration is better. I enjoy being with my kids and wife more and feel good when i get up in the morning.

I should mention that i also started swimming alongside meds and try to eat a better diet (although thats just gone out of window for Xmas), but interestingly i dont feel as anxious or guilty about my diet when i eat crap for a while. i think the meds have helped with anxiety although i took them for depression.

Hang on in there. I never thought that i would feel the way i do now a few weeks ago.

Richard.

The sleeping issue is a big one. I've taken lofepramine for several years; I usually take it for a few months, then come off it for a few months, then restart. So I'm getting a pretty good idea of exactly what it causes.

In the first few days of being back on lofep, I woke every hour through the night. Now (2 months on) I'm sleeping more like 4 or 5 hours before I wake up, then wake every 2 hours after that. When I do sleep, I have very vivid dreams that go away completely if I stop taking the pills. I remember last time I stopped taking lofep, I was amazed by how soundly I was suddenly sleeping - and completely dreamlessly! I miss it sometimes because I can never stay asleep for long.

But (and this might sound odd) it's kind of a good thing to be wakeful after a few hours. When I was not taking them, and very depressed, I just slept all day every day. Now I wake at a reasonable hour and actually feel like getting up. If I don't sleep very well, I still have enough energy to get through my day's work.

One funny thing is that my side effects have changed after I stopped and started a couple of times (over many months). I used to have difficulty urinating, but don't have that problem any more. I used to wake in the middle of the night needing to pee every single damn night, but don't any more. I also used to feel like it was affecting the speed at which I was thinking(!) but don't get that feeling any more - still feel quite sharp. I think even the constipation has improved.

The only real bugbear I have with lofepramine is that you really should not drink with it. I'm a young person with an active social life so of course I have a few drinks occasionally; that's my life choice! But if I do, I cannot take my pill in the evening because that causes the WORST hangovers in the WORLD. I'm talking vomiting for 12 hours. I've learned that if I want a couple of drinks, I should take my dose earlier in the evening BEFORE drinking, instead of before going to bed. Probably still isn't good for me.

Lofepramine isn't perfect but it has saved my life. Probably more than once.